Aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation used Frama-C, a software suite developed by CEA Tech institute List*, to develop a method to detect software security vulnerabilities in real time. The method was implemented on critical security components used in an experimental ground support application for the company's Falcon jets.

Fast and effective verification techniques are crucial to ensuring the cybersecurity of embedded and ground software used for critical operations in the aeronautics industry. Dassault Aviation recently used several tools in List's Frama-C suite to develop a new method for analyzing the source code of its software.

The new method automatically combines the static EVA and dynamic E-ASCL analyses in the Frama-C suite to detect common weaknesses and, if necessary, trigger countermeasures during software execution. List made improvements to the E-ASCL component, which can now detect more vulnerabilities than competing solutions at similar execution speeds while using less memory.

Once validation testing had been completed, the combined method was tested on two widely-used information system security components—Apache and Open SSL—used in this case by Dassault Aviation in proof-of-concept testing of an experimental ground support application for the company's Falcon jets. The tests confirmed that the improved Frama-C features enable the identification of families of cybersecurity weaknesses and make the applications being analyzed more robust while delivering the performance required for industrial scale-up.

Additive Factory Hub (AFH) brings together additive manufacturing innovation, development, and integration under one roof. Valérie Pécresse, President of the Île-de-France Regional Council, officially opened the new facility on December 5, 2017.

An international center for R&D

Additive Factory Hub (AFH) is located on the Digiteo Saclay campus (at the CEA’s center in Paris-Saclay). AFH was set up to help establish an organized additive manufacturing ecosystem around the scientific research community on the Paris-Saclay campus and, more broadly, in the Île-de-France region, with the overriding objective of responding to the major industrial and economic challenges associated with additive manufacturing. AFH enables its members and partners to pool their know-how and most advanced equipment for use in projects that can range from basic scientific research to scaling up new technologies for manufacturing.

AFH is coordinated by CETIM, France’s technical resource center for the mechanical industries, and is operated in partnership with the CEA, both of which are founding members of the Alliance Industrie du Futur. AFH will also work directly with small to mid-sized companies through technology transfer, training programs, and other support services. AFH aligns closely with the Île-de-France regional government’s “smart industry” strategy. “AFH is a prime example of what the Paris-Saclay campus is capable of achieving. Today, the challenge for the Île-de-France region is to once again become a major hub for manufacturing” said Ms. Pécresse during her speech.

After the opening ceremony, guests were given an opportunity to tour the facility’s three main areas:

The manufacturing area, with 3D polymer and metal printing equipment

The testing area, with the Gerim innovative testing lab

The digital technology area, with design and simulation tools for additive manufacturing

Christophe Gégout, Deputy General Administrator, CEA, welcomes Valérie Pécresse, President of the Île-de-France Regional Council

​Non-destructive testing (NDT) is crucial to controlling product quality and integrity. To be effective, NDT methods must effectively address the complex issue of interpreting results. List*, a CEA Tech institute, has developed meta-modelling software that can automatically classify defects. The software will serve as the foundation for a future real-time diagnostics system.

One of the major challenges when it comes to the defect classification procedures commonly employed in the manufacturing and other industries is how to increase both reliability and performance. List is using numerical simulation to develop diagnostics that are fast, flexible enough to adapt to manufacturers' situations, and that can be integrated directly into manufacturers' existing measurement systems.

List researchers used models from the institute's CIVA simulation software to develop generic supervised learning tools and meta-models that enable automatic diagnostics that can be integrated into the production cycle. The methods can be used to identify and reliably characterize anomalies detected during inspection. Furthermore, the machine learning techniques used can operate in real time, which means that the system gets smarter and more robust with use, even in the presence of disruptive events in the environment.

The initial results obtained using the techniques were presented at the QNDE 2017 international conference. Potential industrial partners have expressed interest in this rapid diagnostic technique.

Researchers at List*, a CEA Tech institute, successfully controlled the friction created by a human finger on a smooth surface to produce a perception of texture. Because the vibration field generated is very local, the sensation of texture is fine and precise.

For smooth touch-interfaces like smartphone displays, an illusion of texture can be created by varying the force of the friction exerted on the user's finger. Most of today's texture-generating systems depend on tiny motors placed under the display surface to create a diffuse overall vibration. Researchers at List came up with an improved system that can provide a much more accurate perception of texture, letting users feel a different texture with each finger. The research won Best Paper Award at IEEE World Haptics 2017.

The researchers decided that, rather than increasing the friction coefficient over the entire surface, they would reduce the coefficient using ultrasound to generate a sort of "air cushion" around the finger. "What is new is that we were able to generate the air cushion very locally, providing a much more precise sensation of touch." Piezoelectric switches were placed under the display's surface, where they vibrate at select frequencies so as not to propagate the vibrations over the entire surface.

The system, patented by List, creates an illusion of texture on surfaces that can be touched by several fingers at the same time. Ultimately, transparent piezoelectric materials could be deposited directly on surfaces using deposition techniques developed by Leti.

The CEA took advantage of its recent startup day to recognize Tridimeo with a trophy for being the 200th startup spun off from CEA labs. Tridimeo received the full range of CEA startup support services.

Brand-new startup Tridimeo offers a new generation of industrial 3D vision system leveraging technology developed at List*. The company’s solutions support the automation of complex industrial processes like quality inspection and robot control .

Tridimeo responds to industrial companies’ need to reduce the costs of non-quality and can also help factories automate difficult and repetitive tasks on the shop floor. The company’s solutions pack in two major innovations. They deliver 3D images with submillimeter precision even at high throughput and can also monitor product color and detect rejects on the production line. The automotive and consumer goods manufacturing industries have already expressed interest in Tridimeo’s solutions.

Tridimeo’s cofounders received the full range of startup support services the CEA offers to all of its spin-offs to help speed up the business creation process. First, the project was incubated by the CEA and the cofounders were able to work with CEA researchers and access the CEA’s portfolio of mature, innovative, and patented technologies. They also received expert advice on intellectual property, market research, a zero-percent no-guarantee loan, and venture capital.

Transferring knowledge from the lab to industry has always been one of the CEA’s fundamental missions. The CEA’s unrivalled know-how in technology transfer earned the organization the top slot in the 2017 Reuters-Clarivate Analytics ranking of Europe’s most innovative government research organizations and the second slot in the global ranking.

Startups effective at getting breakthrough innovations to market

When it comes to getting the results of laboratory research to the market, a startup can be particularly effective, especially when there is a major—and therefore high-risk—technological breakthrough involved. Startups spun off from CEA labs are more agile than large corporations and receive the full support of the CEA’s technology transfer programs, increasing their chances of a successful commercial release.

The CEA has been actively supporting startups and encouraging its researchers, engineers, and technicians to create their own startups for more than two decades—a policy that has resulted in the creation of 200 startups since 1978. More than 70% of CEA startups are still in operation today. Over the past five years the pace of business creation at the CEA has picked up, with 51 new startups since 2012. And, with 93% of these businesses still operating, the CEA is well above the average startup survival rate.

A number of former CEA startups have become leaders in their industries. Soitec and Sofradir—both among Europe’s top ten high-tech companies—are just two examples. CEA startups all leverage cutting-edge technologies capable of competing on a broad range of international markets from information technology, new energy technology, and digital technology to biotechnology. CEA biotech startup Theranexus, for example, recently announced some very promising results that could improve the treatment of diseases affecting the central nervous system.

New growth-stage financing

In June 2017 the CEA joined forces with Amundi, Europe’s leading asset manager, to create Supernova Invest, a venture capital firm. The goal is to support growth-stage startups and encourage the creation of jobs in in Europe and in France in particular. Supernova Invest will leverage its founders’ expertise in technological innovation and equity investment to help high-tech companies—from startups in the bootstrapping phase to more mature companies—secure financing. The firm is poised to fund innovations leveraging the intensive development of breakthrough technologies by CEA labs or other government research organizations and that have the capacity to address industry’s major challenges.